Shetland Otters

Last summers trip to The Shetland Isles was punctuated with frequent sightings of Otters. Usually these were at some distance and the Otters were invariably hunting in the sea so extremely difficult to spot as ever changing landscape of waves hid them from view. At best all one can see is a distant brown blob being tossed hither and thither on the waves. "is that really an Otter". Its not until the Otter decides to do its tell-tail vertical dive beneath the waves in pursuit of its prey that you see its rear end roll over as it dives, like some miniature breeching whale, that its distinctive tail can be clearly observed that you know you are looking at an Otter.

Not all sightings at distant ones however. One one occasion on the Island of Unst I got up early and went for a short pre-breakfast stroll down to the nearby bay. Of course i did not take my camera or even my binoculars feeling especially lazy that day. This is always a mistake as any naturalist will tell you. As I reached the bay i could clearly see a group of common seals basking on the rocks but then, suddenly, a small v shaped movement in the water, and another then another. Three Otters appeared from nowhere, a mother and two cubs, foraging along the sea shore at low tide. They then came closer and clambered on to a rock no more than 20m away and sat there eating a butter fish. I've learn't my lesson now and always carry a camera and some binoculars with me at all times.

The sketch above is based on a thrilling 30 minutes we spend watching this female Otter hunting in a small bay on the Island of Yell. She appeared to come out of the water after a long fishing expedition and disappeared behind some rocks. Carefully we made our way along the edge of the small cliff of peaty soil above her ensuring we remained up wind of her and there no more than 4 meters away she sat quietly resting on a sunny rock. Despite seeing we where there she did not seem to be that bothered and went back to sleep. We quietly retreated with a few nice photos and left her in peace wrapped in a blanket of seaweed for extra warmth.

I can only hope that I can get this close to a River Otter here in Hampshire. Seeing one at all would be a great start!